Digital Sports Desk

Online Destination for the Best in Boston Sports

While We’re Young (Ideas) – Nov. 14

by

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – DIGGIES for Best Sports Town

BOSTON – One of the most popular sports columnists in the whole shooting match, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, got a hold a sports survey by a financial service firm, called Wallet Hub. The site named Boston as the No. 1 sports town in the USA.

Wallet Hub reporter Adam McCann, a 2017 graduate of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, penned the report and crunched some numbers to determine his listings. As Mr. McCann graduated with a Hopkins’ degree in Writing Seminars (one of the toughest majors, aside from Hopkins’ famed medical school and science degrees) AND International Studies, we’re here to applaud his efforts. Here’s a few other McCann columns archived on Muck Rack). Way to be Adam and Go Hop!

But, this TL Sunday sports notebook zigs when others might zag, so there will be a new version of the popular DIGGIES Awards with our very own 2021-22 @DigSportsDesk – Best Sports Towns listing.

In case you weren’t onboard for previous Digital Sports Desk DIGGIES,here’s an example of a prior listing. Click HERE for The Influencers. Or, click HERE for an archived 2018 DIGGIES on Hot Sports Properties to Watch. Sadly, with a Pandemic Purge of our prior Digital Sports Desk archives, there were dozens of other DIGGIES that are on a Cloud computing device somewhere. Exactly where, we do not know.

Getting back to the efforts of Mr. McCann for Wallet Hub and Mr. Ryan’s take on the listing for the Globe, the methodology of the report was quite in-depth and it started with the Global Sports Media Report of 2014. The seven-year-old report was then supplemented by scores of data, collected from and cited properly by Wallet Hub. Ready? … They used: The U.S. Census Bureau, Team Marketing Report, ESPN, NCAA, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Sports Reference, Forbes, Sports Analytics Research from Mike Lewis, MLB Advanced Media, Minor League Baseball, Nielsen, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, The National Collegiate Athletic Association, Wikipedia, Facebook, Twitter, NBA, Ranker.com, NHL.com, U.S. College Hockey Online, U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, USL, Soccer Stadium Digest, FlashScore, Sportico, Google Trends, National Soccer Hall of Fame and WalletHub analysis.

Somehow or another, they left Barstool Sports and Digital Sports Desk out?

The other key factor in the report and rankings, the data crunching of 392 cities in the United States was carved into three population-based categories of:

  • Large Cities (300,000+ people)
  • Mid-sized Cities (100,000 to 299,999 people)
  • Small Cities (Fewer than 100,000 people)

Here are the findings:

Large Cities:

  1. Boston
  2. Los Angeles
  3. New York
  4. Pittsburgh
  5. Philadelphia
  6. Denver
  7. Wash DC
  8. Dallas
  9. Chicago
  10. Miami

(Note: They went 61 deep in their listing of Large Cities.

Mid-sized Cities:

  1. Buffalo
  2. Green Bay
  3. Salt Lake City
  4. Orlando
  5. Glendale
  6. Durham
  7. Ann Arbor
  8. Baton Rouge
  9. South Bend
  10. Norman

Small Cities:

  1. Clemson
  2. West Point
  3. Fayette (Michigan)
  4. East Lansing
  5. Tuscaloosa
  6. Hanover
  7. State College
  8. Buies Creek (North Carolina)
  9. Stanford
  10. Morgantown (West Virginia)

Much to its credit, the report also broke down the various cities by the major sports. Ryan was quick to point out that Boston ranked No. 5 in Baseball, No. 1 in ice hockey, No. 3 in football and No. 2 in basketball while also placing the very-much “pro” sports town as No. 15 in college basketball. … You ‘gotta love’ the Buffalo, Green Bay, Clemson and West Point mentions, too.

The college basketball rankings had Durham as No. 1 (thanks Coach K and Duke) and Lexington as No. 2 (thanks Coach Cal and UK). All things considered, Boston’s rather high ranking had to come from the fact you can see no fewer than seven Division I college programs, including:

  1. America East – UMass Lowell
  2. Atlantic 10 – UMass
  3. ACC – Boston College
  4. BIG EAST – Providence
  5. Colonial – Northeastern
  6. IVY League – Harvard
  7. Patriot League – Boston U, and Holy Cross

With all things considered, there’s no real way to determine the No. 1 Sports City. Do you consider success in a calendar year by pro sports teams and then add some college programs when it is appropriate? How many sports in the NCAA athletics do you consider?

Do you base it on a loyal fan base? Attendance? TV Ratings logged when the clubs play on national TV and/or the playoffs?

Do you base the rankings on the athletes themselves and try to pinpoint the cities which have had the most champions, MVPs, league leaders in scoring and the other key stats? Do you base it on players who might be considered the Greatest of All-Time (G.O.A.T.S) who all played in the same city?

If the last question provides the full criteria, then there’s no question that Boston would rank as the No. 1 sports city, with all due respect to Jim Brownof football’s Cleveland Browns, Babe Ruth (who played in Boston before his incredible baseball career with the New York Yankees), Wayne Gretzky (who put Edmonton on the map when he led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships between 1983-84 and 1987-88, and basketball’s Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

This is where the 2021-22 DIGGIES for Best Sports Towns come into the picture.

The criteria:

  • Winning
  • Loyal Fans who come out to the park and watch on TV
  • Deep knowledge by large numbers of fans “on the streets”
  • LOUD buildings from sold-out crowds supporting their team
  • History
  • Great players, coaches and organizations (G.O.A.T.S included)
  • New Trends in sports success

Here we go:

  1. CHICAGO: When you combine the friendly confines of Wrigley, the passion for the Cubs, the up & coming White Sox, the incredible Michael Jordan-led run and newfound resurgence of the Bulls and the loyalty of the Blackhawks and Bears fans, Chi-town has to be No. 1. There was no sports venue any louder than the old Chicago Stadium. There never will be.
  2. PHILADELPHIA: Although the City of Brotherly Love has not cashed-in on a major sports championship since the Philly Eagles upset the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS in Super Bowl LII in 2017, the rabid (and sometimes felonious) fanbase that is a Philly sports fan earns the No. 2 spot. … On two different occasions, while seeking information on the great Red Sox vs NY Yankees rivalry and crazy fans, I was told by security honchos at both Yankees Stadium and Fenway Park that the Phillies fans were “by far” the rowdiest group.
  3. BOSTON: The incredible history and winning ways of the Celtics and Patriots combined with the recent successes of the NHL Bruins and Red Sox place Boston HIGH on any list of great sports towns. That success, however, has spoiled the average fan as its now an expectation for teams to reach “The Finals” in every sport.
  4. TAMPA BAY: Maybe a surprise, but the recent trend of winning by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL, the consistent winning teams put on the baseball field by the Tampa Bay Rays of late and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning. Rays fans deserve a new baseball stadium as opposed to the giant Hefty Bag that is Tropicana Field.
  5. NEW YORK: There’s been a bit of a drought for champions in New York but sports fans can not overlook the 27 World Series championships by the Yankees and sporadic success of the New York Giants. While the Mets, Knicks, Jets, and Rangers have struggled of late, NY fans have hope with the Nets in Brooklyn and the Islanders in their brand new Belmont building. New York sports fans are loyal, loud and knowledgeable but very demanding. Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of College Basketball and home for the Knicks and Rangers, is reason enough to get a Top 5 listing.
  6. SAN FRANCISCO BAY: Roller Derby’s Bay Area Bombers come right to mind as one of the greatest teams of all-time, but the Golden State Warriors are the reason the SF-Oakland area is listed so high. The Bay Area can also lay claim to the 49ers (now playing in nearby Santa Clara) but perennial contenders in the NFL as the SF 49ers and their five Super Bowl victories. This year, the SF Giants surprised everyone while winning 107 games to take the highly competitive National League West. The Giants disappointed in Postseason, losing to the LA Dodgers.
  7. LOS ANGELES: The Hall of Fame players, sold-out crowds and historical success of the Dodgers and Lakers carry weight for LA, even though the current version of the Lakers are struggling. The LA Kings had their 15 minutes of fame, which is reason enough not to allow LA to crack the Top 5, but with this season’s Super Bowl scheduled for February 13th at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, both the LA Rams and LA Chargers are bound to make the NFL Playoffs come January. In college basketball, U.C.L.A. is ranked No. 1 and could do some damage come March Madness time.
  8. DALLAS: The iconic NFL franchise valued at $6.5 billion by Forbes Magazine puts Dallas on every Top 10 list for sports towns and the relative success of the Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Stars (NHL) and a brand new ballpark for the Texas Rangers (MLB) fill-out the list of pro teams. Dallas is also noted as a top Nielsen TV market for national sports, no matter the teams playing. Of course, College football is king in Texas and the AT&T Dome (the house that Jerry Jones built) plays host to all kinds of sports championships.
  9. ST. LOUIS: With the support baseball fans show year-after-year to the Cardinals, that alone places St. Louis as a Top 10 sports town in the USA. The 2019 St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup, too, but the fact there’s no NFL (good-bye Rams) and no NBA (good-bye Hawks) in town sets St. Louis back.
  10. MIAMI: Pat Riley’s winning ways for the Heat, combined with the iconic ways of the Miami Dolphins and the upstart 2021-22 Florida Panthers put the heart of South Florida as our No. 10 great sports city.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The Top 10 listing deserves a few “also rans” and certainly great sports cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh and its Terrible Towels and Steelers, Salt Lake City for its support of the Jazz, Seattle, Wash DC/Baltimore, and Atlanta – home of the 2021 World Series champion Braves are all worthy of consideration. Small towns? How about Annapolis?

Parting Words …

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE: Former Celtics champion Kevin Garnett’s documentary, entitled with his famous exclamation of joy, post 2008 NBA Championship debuted on Showtime this past Friday. Look for a review in next week’s notebook.